HERSHEY - Reagan Pender set a standard for herself leaving Hershey a year ago.

Coming away from the PIAA Cross Country Championships with a sixth-place finish and her first state medal, the Northern Lehigh senior had her sights set on moving up on the podium.

Pender made it a reality on Saturday, running to a fifth-place finish in the Class A girls’ race, crossing the line in 19:55.

The performance capped a remarkable postseason for the senior, who has captured back-to-back Colonial League and District 11 titles over the past two weeks.

“I was really happy,” said Pender, who was 48th at states as a sophomore. “I remember finishing last year ... and I was like, ‘Next year, top-five. From there, if I can do top-five, then I’ll go for top-three, and go for a win if I can.’ But top-five was my goal ever since last year.

“I’m really happy that I was able to do that coming down (to) the finish line. That was pretty cool.”

Our Lady of Sacred Heart’s Haley Hamilton won the race in 19:20. Hamilton also won the PIAA Foundation race in Hershey earlier this season, an event Pender placed second at.

Despite somewhat muddy conditions and a slightly altered Parkview Course due to recent heavy rainfall in the area, Pender’s time eclipsed last year’s 20:21.

“It’s a great feeling,” said Bulldogs’ head coach Dave Oertner. “You have kids that just work hard, they’re great kids and you want to see them succeed, because sometimes they don’t. Things happen. They get injured ... for whatever reason things don’t work out.

“I’m glad they worked out for her. It’s been a great career.”

Pender was the only Times News area runner to medal Saturday.

Tamaqua’s Grace Stegemerten placed 50th in the Class 2A girls race with a time of 20:40. Also in the Class A race, Palmerton’s Natalie Mosier was 74th (21:41).

Weatherly junior Scotty Zoscin posted his best finish at the state meet in his third appearance, finishing 81st in the Class A boys’ race with a time of 18:09.

Northwestern sent two teams to states for the first time since 2013 after the boys and girls captured district titles a week ago.

The Tigers placed 14th in the Class 2A team standings. and were led by Matthew Santana’s 130th-place finish (18:09).

On the girls’ side, Northwestern was 15th among 2A schools. Angelina Klein’s 115th-place result (21:34) paced the Tigers.

Northern’s Marlee Starliper won the Class 2A girls’ race in a record time of 17:11 to win her second straight title.

Blue Mountain’s Olivia Haas (18:24) and North Schuylkill’s Cori McCormick (18:44) were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 2A field.

Mount Lebanon’s Patrick Anderson also defended his title, winning the boys’ Class 3A race for the second year in a row. The senior’s time was 15:25.

Check out Monday’s Times News for more coverage of all the action from Hershey.

PIAA CHAMPIONSHPS

(Top 25 in each class medal)

BOYS

CLASS 3A

TEAM SCORES (TOP FIVE)

1. Downingtown West 65, 2. La Salle College 84, 3. North Allegheny 112, 4. Butler 156, 5. Penncrest 164.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

TOP 5

1. Patrick Anderson (Mount Lebanon) 15:25, 2. Daniel McGoey (North Allegheny) 15:50, 3. Ethan McIntyre (Unionville) 15:56, 4. Cole Walker (Unionville) 15:56, 5. Ethan Maher (La Salle College) 15:58.

CLASS 2A

TEAM SCORES (TOP FIVE PLUS LOCALS)

1. Lewisburg Area 82, 2. York Suburban 82, 3. New Castle 128, 4, Indiana Area 153, 5. Central Cambria 156, 14. Northwestern Lehigh 399.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

TOP 5 PLUS LOCALS

1. Dylan Throop (General McLane) 15:57, 2. Ben Kuhn (Wyomissing Area) 16:08, 3. Weber Long (Greencastle-Antrim) 16:15, 4. Patrick Stevens (Meadville) 16:16, 5. Jacob Hess (Lewisburg Area) 16:17, 130. Matthew Santana (Northwestern Lehigh) 18:09, 148, Sam Bower (Northwestern Lehigh) 18:20, 149. Cole Chukoskie (Northwestern Lehigh) 18:21, 166. RJ Zack (Northwestern Lehigh) 18:36, 198. Joseph Chukoskie (Northwestern Lehigh) 19:08, 208. Nate Vincent (Northwestern Lehigh) 19:29, 221. Joseph Pleban (Northwestern Lehigh) 20:03.

CLASS A

TEAM SCORES (TOP FIVE)

1. Winchester Thurston 113, 2. Riverview 132, 3. Jenkintown 160, 4. Wyalusing Area 161, 5. Penns Valley 166.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

TOP 5 PLUS LOCALS

1. Colton Sands (Penns Valley) 15:56, 2. Brendan Colwell (Penns Valley) 16:05, 3. Andrew Healey (Holy Cross) 16:22, 4. Hunter Armstrong (Marion Center) 16:28, 5. Ian Zimmerman (Northern Bedford) 16:37, 81. Scotty Zoscin (Weatherly) 18:09.

GIRLS

CLASS 3A

TEAM SCORES (TOP FIVE)

1. North Allegheny 137, 2. State College 152, 3. Hershey 164, 4. Upper Saint Clair 172, 5. Mechanicsburg 192.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

TOP 5

1. Mia Cochran (Moon Area) 17:53, 2. Emily Carter (Bethel Park) 18:11, 3. Jenna Mulhern (West Chester Henderson) 18:18, 4. Sophia Toti (Carlisle) 18:29, 5. Margaret Carroll (Northeastern) 18:29.

CLASS 3A

TEAM SCORES (TOP FIVE PLUS LOCALS)

1. South Fayette 62, 2. Northern 77, 3. Warrior Run 116, 4. Central Cambria 159, 5. Lewisburg Area 182, 15. Northwestern Lehigh 365.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

TOP 5 PLUS LOCALS

1. Marlee Starliper (Northern) 17:11, 2. Taryn Parks (Greencastle-Antrim) 18:07, 3. Gionna Quarzo (Brownsville Area) 18:19, 4. Olivia Haas (Blue Mountain) 18:24, 5. Cori McCormick (North Schuylkill) 18:44, 50. Grace Stegemerten (Tamaqua) 20:40, 115. Angelina Klein (Northwestern Lehigh) 21:34, 121. Kailyn Jones (Northwestern Lehigh) 21:38, 153. Allison Costa (Northwestern Lehigh) 22:14, 168. Molly McGorry (Northwestern Lehigh) 22:50, 172. Maci Fisher (Northwestern Lehigh) 22:57, 191. Alexis Vennera (Northwestern Lehigh) 24:07, 198. Nicole Landes (Northwestern Lehigh) 25:01.

CLASS A

TEAM SCORES (TOP FIVE)

1. St. Joseph’s Catholic 93, 2. Marion Center 116, 3. Camp Hill 119, 4. Wilmington 149, 5. Westmont Hilltop 160.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

TOP 5 PLUS LOCALS

1. Haley Hamilton (Olsh) 19:20, 2. Grace Mason (Wilmington) 19:38, 3. Corinn Brewer (Greensburg Central Catholic) 19:41, 4. Krista Jones (Elk Lake) 19:41, 5. Reagan Pender (Northern Lehigh) 19:55, 74. Natalie Mosier (Palmerton) 21:41.